


Returned

by afspouse



Category: Sons of Anarchy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-05
Updated: 2013-01-26
Packaged: 2017-11-06 23:38:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/424473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afspouse/pseuds/afspouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Piney Winston's daughter was kidnapped 10 years ago. Everyone thinks there is no hope of getting her back, until she's spotted one day, and can finally come home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

10 years ago, Piney Winston and Mary were happily married with their 16 year old son Opie, and their 14 year old daughter Lacey. The Sons were a small time club, still reeling from the death of  their founder,John Teller, even though years had passed. Aside from the ‘biker outlaw’ thing, they were the picture of a happy family.

Things changed one spring day when Lacey, who every day took the bus home and waited for Opie, who was spending his after school hours working at Teller-Morrow, Piney or Mary to get there, wasn’t there. The bus driver confirmed dropping her at the end of the block, but there was no sign of her ever being in the house. It was if she had just vanished.

The media latched onto the story almost immediately, and the FBI was called in. The story of the pretty sandy haired girl disappearing was media gold, but produced no leads. The Sons held their own search, going through their, at the time, short list of enemies but came to the conclusion that this had nothing to with Piney being a Son. It was a horrible tragedy, and there was nothing the Sons could do to fix it.

Eventually, Lacey became old news. The media moved on to exploit the next tragedy for profit, the FBI agents left town promising to call with any updates, and Lacey Winston was just another name on the Missing and Exploited Children list.

Opie and Mary’s marriage quickly fell apart. She started viewing the Sons as a threat to her already fractured family, and insisted Piney leave the club, or she would leave him. She now believed her daughter to be dead; it was something she had come to peace with.

Piney and Opie never believed it, for years they saw her. The girl in the drugstore, the teenager at the mall, the young woman walking down Main Street, but, it was never her. They didn’t talk about her to anyone but each other, not even confiding in Jax or Clay about the emptiness inside them.

Piney still woke up every morning and looked at the picture of his daughter at her eleventh birthday sitting on his nightstand. He still held onto a shred of hope that he would see her. He had no idea how close she really was.

**_ TACOMA, WA _ **

Celia DuClaw sat behind the counter of her small bridal shop, flipping through a magazine, mentally planning the party at the clubhouse that weekend. As the old lady of the President of SAMTAC it was her responsibility to make sure the patches bellies were full, their beers were cold, and their primal needs were attended to. Her bridal shop was a dream of hers from when she was a little girl, a dream her husband, Gordon, (Gordo to the club) made a reality for her when they had gotten married 20 years ago.

She looked up from her magazine, plastering a smile on her face as the bell above the front door jingled, but faded for a split second when she vaguely recognized the face on the young woman in front of her.

Ten years ago, Sons of Anarchy only had a few charters on the west coast, Tacoma being one of them. Piney Winston would occasionally bring his two kids with him when he’d come visit the Tacoma charter, and his daughter Lacey spent many a day in the bridal store, helping Celia and playing dress up. When Lacey was taken, Celia was almost as devastated as the family when she had heard the news, remembering all the times the little girl would run around the shop with a bouquet in her hands and veil on her head.

The man with her was in his 40s or 50s, the brown hair on his head starting to streak with grey. He had blue eyes, but they weren’t bright and lively like Lacey’s, they instead looked like two pieces of marble, hard and cold. He was tall, almost 6 and a half feet, and in exquisite shape, judging by the muscles in his arm. Even though he had a smile on his face, Celia shivered inwardly. Something about him set her on edge.

Now, Celia was positive the bright blues eyes staring at her with a plea behind them belonged to Lacey, but judging by the older man gripping Lacey’s hand like a vice, she would be wise to not say anything. “How can I help you two?” She asked instead with a smile.

“My fiancée and I are getting married tomorrow, and she would like a dress for the ceremony, something simple.” The man told Celia. “She saw the shop on our way into town, and we decided to come here.”

Celia turned her attention to the young woman. “Well I’m glad you did, since the big day is tomorrow, we’ll have to see what we have in stock.” She told her with a smile, putting a hand on her back and leading her to a rack of dresses. She had hoped the man would leave the two alone, but was right next to Lacey the entire time. The girl still hadn’t spoken, so Celia decided to do some detective work.

“Are you two from the area?” She asked her, as she pulled dresses off the rack.

The older man answered for them once again. “Oh no, we’re from Maine, but my darling here begged to get married on the West Coast, so here we are.”

“I grew up on the West Coast.” Lacey added quickly, staring into Celia’s eyes, but her face giving away nothing.

“Oh that’s so nice.” Celia told the couple as she reached the end of the rack. “Well let’s get these on you.” She ushered the couple towards the dressing room. “You can wait out here; groom shouldn’t see the bride in her dress right?”

“I’ll help her, we aren’t very traditional.” He told her with a wink and a smile, pushing past her and into the dressing room.

Celia debated her next move while the two were in the dressing room, finally deciding to call Gordon, and in hushed whispers telling him to get down there right now. She hung up the phone and jumped as the two came out of the dressing room. “You two startled me!” She told them with a small sheepish smile.

“We’ll take this one.” The man told her, handing her a dress and pulling a credit card out of his wallet.

Celia took her time wrapping the dress up, stalling for time as long as possible. “Where are you two tying the knot?”

“Just outside of town.” He told her noncommittally. “Nice little place in the woods.”

“The Lodges at Rice Creek.” Lacey added with a smile. To an observer, she would look like an elated bride to be. To Celia she looked terrified. Celia couldn’t stall any longer; she noted the name on the card and asked to see his ID, to make sure the two matched. “Scott Callaghan.” She muttered as she looked at the two. “That’s it. You two have a nice day.” She said glancing out the window for her husband.

The couple walked out of the shop, and Lacey looked over her shoulder at Celia, who nodded at her. Lacey nodded back quickly and tears started welling up in her eyes as she walked away from the only shred of family she had seen in the past ten years.

**_ CHARMING, CA _ **

The Sons sat in the chapel, wondering why Clay had called an emergency meeting of church. Clay sat down at the head of the table staring at the men in front of him.

“Gordo found Lacey.” He said unceremoniously.

The Sons started muttering to each other in surprise, before Piney spoke over all of them. “Where!?” He demanded.

“She’s in Tacoma, he doesn’t know for how long. We gotta go now. Who’s going?” Clay barked quickly.

Piney and Opie left the table to grab their bags, answering Clay’s question. Tig, Jax and Chibs threw their hands up and Clay adjourned the meeting, letting them know they were leaving in 20 minutes.

**_ TACOMA, WA _ **

Lacey paced back and forth in the hotel room nervously; fiddling with the fabric of the white dress she was wearing. It was stupid to take him to Celia’s. If he had caught on, if he had grown suspicious… she would hope he would kill her quickly. When he told her they would go wherever she wanted for their wedding and honeymoon, she had to try to take a chance. Scott didn’t know her father was in the Sons of Anarchy, much less that there was a charter in Tacoma, all he knew was her father was in a motorcycle club. She had to try one last time to get away. The past ten years, it had been drilled into her head that she was to be his wife.  He had handpicked her; she was going to grow into his perfect woman. And now, on her 24th birthday, she was his perfect woman. He had never touched her sexually; he told her he was saving her for their wedding night.

Instead he molded her into his dream woman. He told her what to wear, what to eat, what to cook, and how to behave. Every facet of her life was planned by him, including her exercise and diet. He kept her under lock and key, his princess in the tower. When he first took her, she was locked up every hour of the day; he would even chain her to the floor when she would cook dinner. She’d tried to escape, the first two years, any opening she had she would take, but could never get far. The house they lived in was in the woods, miles from an actual road. The few times she’d made it out the door, she had ended up so horribly lost, she was actually happy when he finally found her.

Anytime she did something to make Scott angry, his true temper would show. He had beaten her, more times than she could count, and after the escape attempt that resulted in her being lost in the woods for days, he had branded her hip with his initials, like ranchers branded their cattle if they got separated from the herd. It was humiliating, and recounting the incident, Lacey put her hand over the brand feeling the heat and pain she had felt. It was one of many scars, physical and emotional that she had acquired during her ‘training’.

Lacey finally decide to stop trying to leave when Scott finally insured he would never lose her. After trying to sneak out a downstairs window, and failing miserably, Scott didn’t yell, didn’t hit her, didn’t even speak to her. He had even made dinner for the two of them that night, waiting on Lacey hand and foot. After dinner, she began to feel woozy and dizzy, and remembered trying to stand up and hitting the floor.

The next morning, she woke to a throbbing pain in the back of her neck, and a bandage on the wound. “I put a tracking chip in you, like a GPS in a car, that way if you ever leave me, I’ll find you.” Scott promised.

Lacey’s trip down memory lane was over when Scott walked into the room. He looked her over adoringly as Lacey finished pinning up her long blond hair on top of her head. “You look beautiful.” He told her, kissing her forehead. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.” She told him blankly. He opened the hotel door and ushered her out to the gazebo where they would say their vows.

They stood in front of the minister, who was reciting a bible verse before the vows, when the rumble of motorcycles began. Scott knitted his eyebrows together at the noise that was getting louder and louder. The noises stopped as the bikes parked, and the minister went back to his Bible, when a group of leather clad men ran into the courtyard. Scott’s eyes widened with realization, this was no accident, this was the day he’d been dreading for ten years.

“How could you?” He hissed at Lacey, who was staring, stunned at the men crossing the grass towards them. When she looked over at Scott he was already gone, running off into the woods surrounding the hotel. A few Sons broke off from the pack to chase after him while the rest approached Lacey slowly, like a wounded animal.

Piney caught up to the group pushing through his brothers to stand next to his son in front his daughter. Celia had been right, even after ten years, there was no way it would have been anyone else but her.

Lacey stared back at the men, assessing them. Her father had aged terribly in the past ten years, and her brother looked like a mountain man, but at that moment, they were the two most beautiful things she had ever seen. Finally she spoke to them.

“Hi.”


	2. Chapter 2

The ride back to SAMTAC’s clubhouse was quiet, Lacey sitting next to Piney, with Piney’s arm firmly around her. Tig and a few of the SAMTAC men stayed behind to comb through the woods for Scott, and make sure any onlookers kept their mouths shut. When they got to the clubhouse, Celia was waiting for them, and enveloped Lacey in a firm hug, squeezing her tightly. As Lacey relaxed into the hug, the realization of what just happened finally hit her. She was free. She wouldn’t be spending her whole life with the psychotic man who was obsessed with her becoming his perfect wife. She was with family, she was home.

Lacey began sobbing, not out of fear, pain or anger like she had so many times in the last ten years, but out of happiness. Celia held the girl, stroking her hair until Lacey finally composed herself, pulling away. “Thank you.” She told Celia, knowing she owed her life to the woman.

Lacey looked over at her father, standing with his club. “Thank you too, all of you.” She told them, wiping the tears off her face, and looking down at the wedding dress she was still wearing. “Can I borrow some clothes?” She asked with a disgusted look on her face.

Opie chuckled, “Celia got you some stuff for the next couple days, when we get back to Charming Gemma will take you shopping.” He ushered her down a hallway and into a free dorm room, the bed covered in makeup, clothes, bath products, shoes, and anything else a girl could need to get ready. “She went a little overboard.” Opie told her. “Do you need anything?” He asked, hovering in the doorway.

“I’m fine, I think I’m just going to go to bed.” She told him as the exhaustion from the day finally hit her.

“Alright, we’ll leave in the morning to go back home.” Opie told her, planting a kiss on top of head. “Glad you’re home.” He told her, as if she’d been gone for a week, instead of ten years.

“Me too.” She told him with a small smile. After Opie closed the door behind him, Lacey looked through the things on the bed slowly, piling them on the empty desk in the room after she’d looked them over. Finally reaching the end of Celia’s generosity, Lacey got together a plethora of soaps and conditioners and took the most blissful shower possible in a somewhat clean clubhouse shower.

After the water finally ran cold, Lacey toweled off and put on a large t-shirt and pair of shorts, crawling into the bed and staring at the ceiling. What would she do now? She wasn’t under the thumb of Scott anymore. She wasn’t even sure what she liked anymore, she knew what Scott told her she liked, but what did she like?

Lacey wiped a few stray tears away, before giving up and letting herself cry into her pillow until she drifted off to sleep. Outside the door Opie listened to his sister cry, debating with himself about whether or not to go in. He finally sighed, and walked away, hoping that tomorrow would be a better day.

**SOASOASOA**

After arriving in Charming, Piney and Opie took Lacey straight to Opie’s house. “I’d have you stay with me, but my house isn’t exactly visitor friendly.” Piney told her as they walked in the house.

“Dad’s house smells like tequila, weed, and pussy.” Opie told her with a grin.

“Gross.” Lacey muttered, looking around the guest room that was going to be hers. Opie put the bag of Celia’s donations down on the bed.

“The kids should be home soon, they uh… they don’t know much about you.” Opie told her sheepishly.

“You have kids?” Lacey said incredulously. “Poor things.” She said with a teasing grin.

“Yeah, and if you don’t stuff it, I’ll make sure they terrorize you.” He told her.

“Are you married?” Lacey asked him, not noticing a feminine touch to the house.

“Not anymore.” He told her sadly. “Remember Donna?”

“You married Donna!? I loved her! What did you do to mess it up?” Lacey asked, jokingly.

“She died.” Opie told her. “…in a car accident.” He added quietly.

“Oh… I’m, I’m so sorry.” Lacey said frantically.

“You didn’t know sweetheart.” Piney told her, putting an arm around her. “He probably would have messed it up eventually.” He said with a wink.

“Yeah, probably.” Opie assured her.

The three stood in the room in an awkward silence for what seemed like an hour, but in reality was only a few seconds, until Piney cleared his throat. “Gemma wants to take you out tomorrow, go shopping and do some other girlie shit.”

Lacey nodded, she knew she needed some clothes; she couldn’t live in the three outfits Celia gave her forever.

“She’s throwing a big family dinner tonight too, we are expected to attend.” Opie added in.

“She used to do those all the time when we were kids. I can’t believe she still goes to all that trouble.” Lacey said, reminiscing about hovering around Gemma and her mother while they’d be cooking, trying to sneak a bite from the cake or pie they were making, and getting her hand smacked more than once for it.

The front door opened and slammed shut, and Piney grinned. “The hellions are home.” He told her.

The three walked out into the living room, where Ellie and Kenny were emptying their backpacks and shedding their shoes. “Hi Dad, Hi Grandpa.” Kenny said, while Ellie waved a hand while untying her shoes.

“Guys, I want you to meet someone. This is your Aunt Lacey. She’s gonna stay with us for a while.” Opie told them, while Lacey shifted her weight back and forth between her feet nervously.

“Hi.” Kenny said, staring at his new Aunt.

“I thought you died.” Ellie told her bluntly.

“Ellie!” Opie chastised.

“That’s what Grandma said!” Ellie protested.

“Your Grandma is wrong.”Piney told her gruffly.

“It’s OK Dad, she didn’t know.” Lacey told him. “I promise while I’m here I’ll help you guys break all your Dad’s rules” She told the two children with an exaggerated wink.

Opie rolled his eyes and sighed. “Figures.” He grumbled. “Come on guys lets go get ready to go over to Clay and Gemma’s.” he told the kids, ushering them to their bedrooms.

**SOASOASOA**

Despite Opie’s best efforts, the Winston clan was still 15 minutes late to the dinner. “Gemma’s gonna skin us.”Opie bemoaned as they walked in the door.

“Nah, we’ll just blame it on Lacey. She can’t get mad at her.” Piney told him.

“I told you 7pm!” Gemma shouted across the room, crossing over and giving Lacey a hug. “Hi baby.” She said sweetly, kissing the girl’s forehead.

“It’s Lacey’s fault we were late.” Opie offered.

“It’s true, I uh… had to fix my hair.” Lacey told her with an earnest look.

“Uh huh.” Gemma said through pursed lips. “Come say hello to everyone else.” She told Lacey, ushering her away from Piney and Opie. Clay grabbed Lacey, picking her up while squeezing her tightly.

“Welcome home.” Clay told his Goddaughter.

“Clay I saw you yesterday.” Lacey said with a giggle.

“I know, but indulge an old man will ya?” Clay asked her.

Lacey made her rounds, shocked that Tara and Jax were still together, pleased to see Kozik had moved to Charming, terrified of the new silent man named Happy, and a little apprehensive to be introduced to Chibs, Juice, Phil and Miles, all of which hadn’t been around before the ‘incident’.

During dinner, everyone did their best to catch Lacey up on their lives, while avoiding the subject of her life entirely. Clay got a phone call and stepped away from the table while the group watched him, all conversation stopping.

Clay came back to the table after hanging up, sitting down with a sigh. “Tig’s on his way back.”

“With a body I hope.” Piney muttered.

“Couldn’t find the bastard, said he must’ve found a cave or some shit.” Clay told them.

Lacey dropped her fork, pushing her chair out as her face paled. She started shaking and Opie furrowed his brow as he put an arm around her. “It’s alright, we’ll find him.”

“No… no… he’ll find me.” Lacey said in a quivering voice. “He’ll find me, he always finds me.” She jumped up from her chair. “Excuse me.” She muttered, running into the backyard. Piney started to go after her, but Gemma and Tara got up instead, assuring him that they would take care of it.

Lacey was pacing the backyard fence line like a caged animal. Tara and Gemma caught up with her and kept stride for a few minutes, before Gemma finally grabbed the girl by the shoulders. “Enough. Talk to us.”

“He knows where I am, every minute of every day.” Lacey whispered to them through her tears.

“He won’t find you, not before the Sons find him.” Tara told her.

“YES! Yes he will! The chip he put in me… it’s like a GPS!” Lacey yelled rubbing the back of her neck on reflex.

Tara and Gemma stared at the girl like she’d grown a second head. “There’s… there’s no such thing sweetie.” Tara assured her.

Lacey narrowed her eyes at her. “Yes there is. He knew where I was every second, every time I tried to escape, he found me. I know what he did.”

“Baby, I promise you, if there is a way he’s tracking you, it won’t matter. Those men in there aren’t going to let a hair on your head out of place.” Gemma told her calmly. “In the meantime, we’ll get Juice to make sure there’s no way he could be tracking you. That little hacker’s got to be good for something.”

Lacey nodded, and asked for a few minutes alone, so Tara and Gemma walked back into the house together. “Gemma, there is no way there is a technology like that.” Tara whispered.

“I know that, but aside from cutting the damn girl open, she isn’t going to believe us, at least she’s appeased… for now.” Gemma said glancing back at Lacey, who was still rubbing the back of her neck, her fingers tracing the cross shaped scar.

“He’ll find me.” Lacey told herself.


	3. Chapter 3

Lacey stepped out of Gemma’s car, a new woman. She’d had her hair cut, layered and falling just past her shoulders, and at Gemma’s urging, fresh highlights. She’d gotten her makeup done, and was wearing form fitting jeans and a low cut blue top. Gemma snapped at Miles, instructing him to empty the trunk full of new clothes, shoes and accessories and put them in Opie’s truck. Piney approached the two of them, looking grumpy. He kissed Lacey’s cheek. “Did you have fun baby?”

Lacey nodded and smiled. “I did… do you like my hair?”

“Looks good darling.” He told her.

Piney stepped aside with Gemma while Lacey talked to Opie and expressed his displeasure at Lacey’s transformation. “You didn’t have to tart her up Gem, she looks like…”

“Like an adult?” Gemma asked, cutting him off. “Piney, she’s not 1 years old anymore. She’s 24. She looks like a 24 year old.”

Piney glanced back at his daughter who was listening to Opie and Bobby tell a story, and back at Gemma. “I didn’t get to grumble about her clothes and makeup and all that shit when she was a teenager, let me have this now.”

Gemma sighed. “You can bitch to me. Not to her. She needs to know its ok to be adult her, not 14 year old her. So come to me to complain when she drinks a beer, or smokes a cigarette, or goes on a date. Let her be.”

 Lacey eyed Gemma anxiously and followed her into the clubhouse. “Did you talk to Juice yet? About… the chip?” Lacey asked her, whispering the last part, for fear her father or a club member would overhear her. She glanced around and aside from Tara glancing over and waving, it didn’t seem like anyone was paying them any attention. It was foolish to want to keep it from Piney, but she knew he would have an aneurism if he found out, and she didn’t want to add any more stress and worry on him. Plus, she knew Tara thought she was crazy when she found out about the chip, she didn’t want her father and brother to think the same.

“Oh uh, let me go talk to him for a minute.” Gemma said, turning away from Lacey and rolling her eyes as she looked for Juice in the garage. She had hoped Lacey would drop the issue, but it obviously wasn’t going to be that easy. “Juice!” She yelled at the Puerto Rican under the car.

Juice rolled out from the car and jumped up. “What’s going on?” He asked with a dash of nervousness. Gemma talking to him always made him a little nervous.

Gemma sighed. “Lacey thinks that… piece of shit… put a chip in her, to track her. She’s freaking out about it, and I told her you’d check into it.”

Juice scratched the back of his head. “There’s no such thing…”

“I know that, and you know that, but _she_ doesn’t know that. Just go talk to her will ya? Show her some computer mojo or something.”  Gemma ordered him.

“Yeah, yeah…” Juice said. “I’ll uh… show her some research on the internet or something.”

“Whatever you’ve got to do to convince that poor girl that she’s not walking around with a tracker in her like some lo jacked car.” Gemma fumed. The underlying tones in her voice told Juice that failure was not an option.

Juice found Lacey sitting at the bar, fidgeting with a cocktail straw and shaking her leg. “Hey, uh Gemma said you wanted to talk about…”

Lacey interrupted him, “Can we talk somewhere… quieter?” She asked, glancing around the clubhouse to see if anyone was listening to them.

“Yeah, uhhh… come on.” Juice told her, leading her back to his dorm room. Lacey looked at all the various computer parts and other unidentifiable hi tech gadgets lying around. She was satisfied that if anyone would be able to help her, it would be this guy.

Lacey sat on the edge of the bed, and Juice brought over his laptop and sat next to her, pulling up article after article saying that human tracking technology didn’t exist, and wouldn’t exist for at least ten to fifteen years.

“See, there’s no way he could’ve done anything like that. There’s just no way.” Juice told her gently as she scanned the screen.

“You’re wrong… he told me he did it… I have the scar… He’s really smart, he must have figured out some way.” Lacey insisted, her eyes pleading with him.

“Jesus Christ…” Juice muttered, wiping his face. “I’m gonna go get a beer, and then we’ll… look at some more stuff.” He stood up, handing her the computer. “I’ll be right back.” He promised her as he left.

Lacey stood up and paced the room. He didn’t believe her either, he thought she was crazy. She just needed to show them, they had to believe her about how dangerous Scott was. She pulled her hair up and examined the cross shaped scar on her neck. It wasn’t too big, maybe if she just cut it back open, she could find the chip herself, and prove it to them.

She saw a pocket knife on the dresser and opened it, testing the sharpness with the tip of her finger. She hesitated as she held it up to the back of her neck, looking through the mirror. Bracing herself she cut the vertical line of her scar, exhaling the breath she didn’t know she had been holding. “That wasn’t so bad, she told herself, lining the blade up with the longer horizontal line, ignoring the blood trickling down her neck.

Just as she started to make the second cut, Juice walked in the room. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted one too, so I grabbed you one, but if you don’t want it I’ll drink… Holy shit!” He said, looking up and seeing the bloody mess on her neck. He grabbed the knife out of her hand, and grabbed a t-shirt off the table, holding it up to her neck and wrapping an arm around her back. “What are you doing?!” He asked her.

“I needed to prove it to you!” She insisted trying to pull away from him.

Juice looked around the room, formulating a plan quickly, he’d seen this kind of stuff on TV before, maybe it would work. “Alright, I’ll look for it, I’ve got a better angle than you anyway, just… let me grab some tweezers.” He told her frantically. Walking to his bathroom Juice palmed the smallest computer chip on his desk, and grabbed a set of tweezers. “Lay down.” He ordered her, hoping like hell this would work. He pulled the bloody t-shirt away and put the chip down on her neck, let it get covered in blood, and pressed the tweezers into the wound, grimacing as he did it. After a few seconds, he couldn’t take it anymore, and picked up the chip in the tweezers. “I got it.” He told her, putting the shirt back on the wound.

“You did?! Really?” She asked, sitting up and examining the chip in Juice’s hand. “Thank you.” She told him, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Yeah, no problem.” He said, dropping the chip on the floor and stepping on it. “It’s gone now. You don’t have to worry anymore… I’m gonna go get Chibs to stitch you up.”

“No, not him, I don’t want him to tell my Dad… he’ll worry.” Lacey pleaded with him.

“You gotta have stitches Lace.” Juice told her, exasperated. He paced back and forth for a second before looking up. “What about Tara?”

Lacey thought about it for a minute before nodding. “OK… Tara.”

“Don’t move.” He ordered, taking the knife with him. He found Tara snuggling with Jax on a couch in the main room of the clubhouse. “Hey doc, could you come help me with something real quick?”

Tara knitted her eyebrows in confusion, as did Jax. “Sure, what’s going on?” She asked, getting off the couch, Jax following suit.

“Uh…. Lacey has some… ummm… female questions… if you could grab your bag and come help her out…” Juice lied, hoping Jax would lose interest. Sure enough, Jax plopped right back down on the couch, and Tara followed Juice alone, picking up her bag, even though she wasn’t sure why she would possibly need it. “Listen. Whatever she says, just… go along with it, I’ll explain later.” Juice told her quickly.

Walking into Juice’s room and seeing Lacey, Tara glared at Juice. “What did you do?” She hissed at him, sitting on the bed next to Lacey, and examining the wound.

“I didn’t do anything!” Juice told her, angry at the fact that everyone always thought the worst of him.

“He got the chip out Tara!” Lacey told her. “Don’t be mad at him.”

“She cut her neck open and I got the chip out.” Juice reiterated, widening his eyes at her and nodding slowly, hoping she would catch on.

“Oh… good.” Tara said. “Well, let’s stitch you up.” She told her, cleaning the wound. “Do you have any pain killers or anything?” She asked Juice.

“No… but I can try to find some.” Juice offered, starting to leave.

“I’ll be fine.” Lacey insisted. “I’m used to dealing with pain.”

Juice and Tara exchanged sad looks over Lacey’s head at the girl’s statement. “OK, well, I’ll get to work then.”

Juice sat next to Lacey as Tara worked, watching her twist the bedsheets as she gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. He grabbed her hand letting her squeeze it, and watched with a sad look. “Why was six afraid of seven?” He asked her.

“I don’t know.” She forced out.

“Because seven ate nine.” He told her with a grin.

Lacey groaned at his terrible joke, but laughed in spite of herself.

“What's the difference between bird flu and swine flu?” He asked.

“What?”

“If you have bird flu, you need tweetment. If you have swine flu, you need oink-ment!” He told her with a snort.

“I think that one was worse than the last one.” She told him with a giggle.

“I’ve got a million of them.” He promised her, and true to his word, kept them coming until Tara finished the final stitch.

“You’re not going to tell anyone are you?” Lacey asked Tara as she cleaned up.

Tara sighed. “Lacey…” She said with a warning tone.

“Please?” She pleaded.

“Fine.” Tara told her. “But don’t do anything like that ever again.” Tara told her sternly. “You scared the crap out of me, and I’m surprised that Juice didn’t pass out.”

“Sorry.” Lacey said guiltily. “Sorry Juice.” She told the tattooed man.

“It’s alright.” He told her with a lopsided grin. “Do you want to hear another joke?”

“NO!” Tara and Lacey both yelled, before dissolving into a fit of giggles.

Juice rolled his eyes. “No one appreciates my sense of humor around here.”


	4. Chapter 4

Two weeks had passed since the 'neck incident' and Lacey was going stir crazy sitting around Opie's house. She'd enjoyed getting to know Ellie and Kenny, and her Dad had been hovering around pretty much every waking hour, but she had to face facts: She was bored. She'd cleaned and reorganized every common area of the house, and rearranged the furniture to be a bit more visually appealing. Now, short of cleaning Opie's bedroom, a task she didn't relish, Lacey was out of things to do.

She heard her Dad's motorcycle pull up and set her mind to telling him that she had to find something to do with herself. "Hi Daddy." She said, kissing his stubbly cheek.

"Hi Sweetheart, I got something to talk to you about. Sit down with me?" He asked her, sitting on the couch. Lacey sat next to him and gave him a questioning look. "Juice has been looking for leads on this… Scott, but he's come up empty so far, he has questions for you, stuff that could help with the search."

"I…" Lacey started, but was interrupted.

"I know talking about him will be hard, but I want to find him. I want him to pay for what he did." Piney added.

Lacey thought about it for a minute. As much as she hated the idea of delving into her past, with a stranger no less, she would at least get out of the house for a while, and could maybe have an adult conversation with someone who didn't treat her like the kid she was ten years ago. "I'll try to help." She told her father. "I don't know how much I could do though…"

"Just do what you can." Piney told her. "Let's get up to the clubhouse."

SOASOASOA

Lacey entered the clubhouse nervously, waving at Bobby and Chibs who were currently at the bar, taking a 'beer break'. "Hey Lace." Juice called from a booth in the corner or the room, waving her over. Lacey sat down beside, looking at the computer screen, trying to make sense of the jumble of names and numbers, and subsequently giving up.

"So, all we've got is his name, and a credit card, that he only used one time… for the umm… dress." Juice told her. "I need something else… Do you know his social?"

"No… No." Lacey said, shaking her head.

"That's fine, it was kind of a long shot question." Juice assured her. "What about an address?"

Lacey shook her head again, starting to get frustrated with herself.

"Do you know what state he lived in?" He tried.

"Ummm Maine… or… New Jersey… maybe Vermont…" She racked her brain. "I'm sorry… I don't know for sure." She put her head in her hands and groaned at how unhelpful she was.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. Let's… let's take a quick break and put some music on. What kind of music do you like?"

"Umm… well Scott really liked Country… and Jazz." Lacey told him.

"Did you like it?" Juice asked her.

"Not really…" She began. "No, I didn't."

"Well… let's start with some stuff on the radio now." Juice told her, pulling up his ITunes playlist and clicking on a song. "This is Hollywood Undead."

The two listened to the song for a minute and Juice asked her, "Do you like it?"

"Do you?" Lacey asked him.

"It doesn't matter what I like." Juice insisted.

"Then… I guess… I'm not crazy about it." She told him honestly.

"Cool, that's fine… what about this?" He asked putting on another song.

Lacey liked this one much better, bobbing her head in time. "What is this?" She asked.

"3Oh!3. It's called Starstruckk." He told her.

"I like it." She told him with a smile.

"Figures." He said rolling his eyes dramatically and grinning.

"Why?"

"I dunno, it's a chick song."

"Well, I am a chick." She reminded him.

"Yes you are." Juice said, giving her a quick once over before clearing his throat. "We should, um… get back to work." He started typing into his computer frantically. "Do you know how old he is?"

Lacey groaned, and the two got back to work, mostly unsuccessfully, until Opie and Piney sauntered into the clubhouse, wearing twin conspiratorial grins. "We got ya something baby girl." Piney told her.

"What?" She asked him, confused.

"Come outside." Opie told her, pulling her out of the booth. Lacey shot a look back at Juice, who just shrugged and went back to his computer. Opie put his hands over Lacey's eyes and walked her out to the parking lot, finally pulling his hands away and smiling from ear to ear.

In front of Lacey was a (semi) new blue Honda Accord and Piney was extending a set of keys out to her. "Oh… umm is this…"

"All for you little sis." Opie told her. "We'll go get you a license tomorrow."

"Thank you." She forced out, plastering a smile on her face and hugging both of them. "I should probably study a couple days… for the test." She thought quickly, trying to buy herself some time.

"Yeah, that sounds good, we'll get you a book or something. Do you want to take it for a spin?" Opie asked her.

"Oh umm… not right now… I don't want to get pulled over or anything…" She offered. She felt her tears welling up, and excused herself, walking as fast as she could into what she thought was an empty bay. She started sobbing and didn't notice Happy roll out from under a car and stand up.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked in his gravelly voice

"Nothing." She told him, wiping the tears off her face.

Happy shrugged and started to go back to work, when Lacey finally spoke.

"They got me a car." She said in a small trembly voice.

"And… you don't like the color?" He asked her, not following her train of thought.

"I don't know how to drive. I don't have a license." She said sadly.

"So?" He asked her.

"So? So I'm 24 and I've never driven a car! I've never been on a date, I've never kissed anyone that didn't want to force me to marry them, I've never had a job, and I've never lived on my own…" She rambled on until Happy grabbed her face and pressed his lips to hers.

She was caught off guard, and took a minute before she pulled away, giving him an offended look.

"I definitely don't want to marry you so… one thing down. Quit bitching, and start knocking shit off the list. It isn't hard." He told her.

Lacey glared at him. "Are you crazy? How dare you just… kiss me like that!" She yelled at him.

Happy rolled his eyes, and got back down on the creeper. "Damn women… Last time I try to help." He grunted, going back to his work.

Now angry and upset, Lacey went back inside and sat back down with Juice, who eyed her carefully. "Everything OK?" he asked her.

"Yeah." She said, not meeting his gaze.

"Really? Cause… you look like shit." He told her.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Thanks."

"I just meant… I mean… you've got black shit smeared on your face." Juice stumbled out.

Lacey gasped and grabbed a compact out of her purse, wiping the oil from Happy's hands off.

"You want to talk about something?" He asked her when she was done.

"No." She said, before biting her lip. "Actually… could I ask you a favor?"

"Yeah, what's up?" He asked.

"Could you… could you maybe teach me… how to drive?" Lacey spit out finally.

"How to drive?" Juice repeated, making sure he heard her correctly.

"It's fine if you don't want to…" Lacey started babbling, before Juice cut her off.

"No, its fine, I'll teach you, but why not ask Piney… or Opie… or anyone?" He asked her.

"I don't want to make Dad and Opie feel bad that they got me a car, but didn't think to find out if I could drive. All the other guys think of me as a kid still, or I haven't ever spoken to them, except that Happy guy, but he kind of scares me." Lacey confessed.

"Well, I'll teach you. Do you wanna go now?" He asked her.

"Now? Like… right now?" She asked in surprise.

"No time like the present." He told her.

SOASOASOA

After telling Opie she had changed her mind was going to take the car (with a patch) and would see him at the house, she and Juice snuck the car off the lot, and Juice pulled over, letting Lacey get in the driver's seat. Juice talked her through the basics, before grinning. "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." She said, putting the car into what she thought was drive, but grimaced when she pressed the gas and the car didn't move. Juice grabbed her hand that was clutching the gear shift, pulling it from neutral to drive.

"Happens all the time." He assured her. She left her foot on the brake, and Juice left his hand on hers. The two sat like that for a minute, before it got too awkward for both of them, and Lacey finally pulled onto the neighborhood street, very carefully following Juice's directions on where to turn. "You can go a little faster you know." He told her gently.

"The speed limit is 30." She reminded him.

"You're going 12." He shot back good naturedly.

"Oh…" She said, blushing from her embarrassment.

"Heh." He laughed.

"What?"

"I've never seen someone really blush before." He told her, causing her to blush even more.

"So, have you thought about what you want to do… like work wise?" He asked her, changing the subject.

"Not really."

"Well, what do you like to do?"

Lacey sighed. "I don't really know, the only thing I enjoyed doing at Scott's was decorating the house… you know, like painting the walls and picking out furniture and stuff, but I can't exactly make a career out of that."

"Hmm…" Juice said thoughtfully, formulating a plan in his head. "So, can I ask you something, without you yelling, or hitting me, or being offended?"

"You have a lot of issues, don't you?" Lacey asked him. "I guess you can ask."

"Why do you want to hide everything from your Dad and the rest of the guys? You know they wouldn't be mad or anything."

Lacey sighed. "I know. I just… I don't want to be poor little Lacey. I don't want my Dad to feel like he needs to worry about me all the time. All the guys, they all knew me as this little annoying kid hanging out at the clubhouse, and now they think of me like… damaged goods. I just want to be normal."

"Your Dad has been less worried since you've been home than he has been the whole time I've been here. He'd worry about you regardless of your situation, because he's your Dad." Juice told her earnestly, as she pulled to a stop. "And you are not…" He told her putting his hand under her chin and pulling her face to look at his. "damaged goods." He told her with a serious expression on his face.

"Thanks." She told him with a smile, before setting her sights back on the road. They drove in silence for a few minutes, before Juice spoke again.

"If you need to talk about shit… you can talk to me. But I still think you should talk to Op and your dad more."

"OK."

"OK, you'll talk to me if you need to, or OK you'll talk to your Dad and brother more?"

"Just… OK." She told him with a small grin.

"Women." Juice muttered, before cranking the radio up. "I love this song!" he told her, before playing air guitar and dancing in his seat. Lacey turned to watch him, laughing at his goofiness, until Juice looked up and yelled. "Whoa! Stop!"

Lacey looked forward to see a stop sign pass and a car in front of her. She slammed on the brakes as the other car swerved and honked, and they both pitched forward in their seats. Lacey took in several shaky breaths, muttering "oh my God, oh my God" as she tried to get her heart to stop beating out of her chest. She turned to look at Juice, who was still clutching the dashboard, his face pale. She started giggling, then full on laughing uncontrollably at his terrified face.

"This is not funny! We could've died!" He told her, but started laughing in spite of himself. He reached over and switched the radio off. "We'll work on the radio the next lesson."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N- PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!


	5. Chapter 5

The next week flew by, and before she knew it, Lacey was going with Piney to take her driving test. She paced nervously in the clubhouse, waiting for her Dad to get out of church. When the Sons filed out of chapel, Lacey plastered on a smile as they gave her well wishes and good lucks. Juice pulled her aside and asked her, "You nervous?" while Opie watched them curiously.

"No…" She lied, as Juice gave her a disbelieving look. "Yes." She admitted.

"Don't be, you've got this… just don't get distracted by the idiot in the passenger seat." He told her with a laugh.

"I doubt the DMV guy will be as distracting as you…" Lacey said somewhat flirtatiously, before clearing her throat. "Thanks… for everything." She told him with a small smile and nod, before walking over to Piney and walking out the door.

SOASOASOA

A COUPLE HOURS LATER, Lacey burst through the clubhouse door, Piney behind her chuckling. "I did it!" She yelled her brother who was playing poker with Jax, Happy, Bobby, and Tig. Opie jumped up and gave Lacey a bear hug, picking her up and spinning her around.

"Good job sunshine." Bobby told her, ruffling her hair. Tig gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

"This calls for a celebration." Jax said, handing her his beer and clapping her on the back.

Piney grabbed the beer away giving Jax a disapproving look. Lacey rolled her eyes at him but laughed when Piney handed her a bottle of tequila instead. "My daughter isn't getting drunk her first time on that piss water."

"Dad… I got drunk my first time when I was 13." She told him with a sheepish grin as she took a drink from the tequila bottle, and gagged on the burning liquid. She looked at Piney who was still giving her a disapproving look and added, "Opie and Jax gave me the booze."

"You little snitch!" Opie growled at her.

Lacey laughed before asking him, "Is Juice around?"

"I think he's working on his bike out in the garage." Opie told her, narrowing his eyes at her question.

"I'll be right back." She told the men, walking out to the garage and spotting Juice. "Juice!" She called out, getting his attention. "I did it!" She told him running towards him, throwing her arms around him and squeezing him tight. He put his arms around her waist, and picked her up, laughing with her.

"I knew you would." He told her, putting her down and looking into her eyes as she still smiled at him. He wasn't sure why his heart was beating so fast, or why his palms were getting sweaty, and he definitely didn't appreciate the feeling of his jeans tightening as he looked at her glossy lips.

Lacey stared into Juice's eyes, fighting the overwhelming urge to kiss him. He was just doing her a favor and being nice after all, she didn't need to go ruin it by throwing herself at him. The two pulled apart, both feeling sufficiently awkward. "I'm going to go have a drink with my Dad and some of the guys, if you want to come join us."

"Yeah, I'll be in there in a minute." He told her, wanting some time to compose himself. Just as Lacey walked out the side door, Opie walked in through the open bay door, and Juice had a mini heart attack. Opie didn't look like he had a thirst for his blood, which was a good sign. Maybe he didn't see anything between the two that could possibly be construed as inappropriate. Maybe Juice would get to keep his balls for another day.

"She likes you." Opie said nonchalantly.

"What? No, we're just… We're friends." Juice babbled, as Opie looked at him like he'd lost his mind.

"I know that." Opie told him. "Do you think she's happy? I mean… she tells Pop and I that she is, but… I dunno, is there something else we should do?"

"Maybe a job?"

"Doing what?" Opie said, giving the matter thought.

"She said she likes decorating and shit. Maybe Gemma could work her influence and get her a job with Oswald's wife or something?" Juice told him. Eliot Oswald's wife was the owner of a successful real estate company.

"Yeah, I'll talk to her about it." Opie said, still coming up with an idea in his head. "I'm glad she has someone she can talk to. I don't think she tells Dad and me everything."

"I don't think she tells anyone everything." Juice told him honestly.

"But she's ok though right? Up here?" Opie asked, motioning to his head.

"Yeah…" Juice said, being careful not to include the whole 'chip incident' in his assessment.

"I guess it's all good then." Opie told him, clapping him on the back. "Thanks brother."

Juice let out a breath as Opie walked away. Opie paused and turned back around, "Oh yeah…Juice. You ever put a move on her; I'll break your fucking legs… brother."

Juice stared at him, but Opie chuckled and Juice relaxed a bit, laughing with him, but forgetting to breathe when Opie dropped his smile and stared at him seriously.

"Fuck." Juice said to himself as Opie left.

SOASOASOA

The next three months flew by for Lacey and she felt like she was getting her life on the right track. Once Gemma learned of her penchant for design, she got Karen Oswald to agree to hire her on as a stager for the houses she was selling. Even though it wasn't exactly the most creative job, she enjoyed the positive feedback and mentoring she was getting, and she was building a portfolio. Karen was originally hesitant to hire someone so closely affiliated to the Sons, but she had to admit the girl had an eye for design, and she was pleasant to be around.

Things were going so well in Lacey's life; she was even debating getting an apartment of her own. She hadn't been around the clubhouse much, just to see her brother and Dad, who was still hovering over her, showing up at Opie's house every day that he wasn't out of town for a run, or in bed with a Croweater. Unfortunately, Juice had been stand offish with her, and she hadn't seen him for more than a couple minutes in the clubhouse. She knew it was stupid to have a school girl crush on the man, but she couldn't help it. Now that finding Scott had been put on the backburner, and she hadn't had any more nuclear meltdowns in front of him, he was back to his normal life of booze, pussy, and going on runs with the club. He had helped her out, and Lacey had clearly taken his generosity the wrong way.

Because things were going so well, Lacey was beginning to get a sense of dread, waiting for the other shoe to drop. She was constantly looking over her shoulder, waiting for Scott to show up, to rip her away from her happy life, again. No matter how many times she told herself she was being stupid, she couldn't shake the feeling.

Lacey drove up to the clubhouse, prepared to talk to Gemma about one thing in her life that hadn't been going so well. "Gemma? Can I talk to you a second?" She asked as she walked into the office.

"What's going on Baby girl?" Gemma asked, putting away the paperwork she was working on away, and leaning back in her chair.

"Have you… Have you talked to my Mom?" She said nervously.

"You haven't?" Gemma asked, furrowing her brow.

"No, I've asked Dad about it, but… he kind of changes the subject, says that she's really busy right now." Lacey stumbled over her words.

Gemma's eyes darkened in anger, and she jumped up, grabbing her purse. "Come on." She told Lacey, who was following her out to Gemma's car.

"Where are we going?"

"To see your mother." Gemma told her ominously.

The two drove for close to 2 hours, towards Fresno where the two parked in front of a nice two story home in a nice quiet neighborhood. "You know where she lives?" Lacey asked her, slightly impressed, and slightly intimidated.

"It's my business to know." Gemma told her, stalking up to the front door, and knocking heavily.

Mary opened the door slowly, and then stared through the screen door. "My baby…" She said softly, tears welling up in her eyes.

Lacey stared at her Mom, tears threatening to spill and waited for some sort of sign from her mother. Mary didn't open the door, or make a move towards her daughter. Gemma watched Mary carefully, before finally rolling her eyes and yanking the door open. "So nice of you to invite us in." Gemma muttered as she took Lacey's hand and pulled her into the door, pushing past Mary.

The three of them stood in Mary's living room, and Lacey looked around slowly; her mom had a couple pictures of Ellie and Kenny, but none of Opie, and none of her. Her Mom still hadn't touched her, and Lacey was getting tired of waiting, finally throwing her arms around her neck and giving her the hug she was hoping to get.

Mary embraced her daughter finally, dissolving into tears as she clutched her shirt, as if she be snatched away at any moment. "Now isn't that nice?" Gemma asked when the two finally let go of each other and sat down across from each other, while Gemma lounged in Mary's recliner. "Would've been nicer if it had happened three months ago."

"Gemma." Lacey said in a warning tone. Mary just ignored Gemma, a skill she'd learned long ago, and turned to her daughter.

"I suppose I owe you an explanation." Mary said quietly, while Gemma snorted and lit a cigarette. "I don't smoke in my house." She told Gemma over her shoulder, but Gemma just shrugged, taking a puff from her cigarette and ashing in a glass of water.

Mary took a deep breath, trying to formulate the words she was feeling. "I left Charming… I left for a reason, and I told myself I'm never going back." She began.

"You didn't think you could make an exception? For me?" Lacey asked her, perplexed.

"No. That club, that town… that life… its poison Lacey. I told your father the only way I'd be able to see you, would be if you came here." Mary defended.

"Well that's not selfish at all." Gemma quipped putting her hands up in a surrender when Lacey shot her another warning look.

"I told Piney I wanted you to live here. I told him I could give you a place to stay."

"So long as I stayed out of Charming?" Lacey asked, putting the puzzle pieces together. "How could you say that, Dad and Opie, they were the ones that found me… if it wasn't for the Sons…" She trailed off, disgusted at the thought of cutting her Father out of her life after everything.

"They'll also be the death of you. They are poison, Lacey. They aren't good people. I tried to keep your brother away but your father turned him against me… just like he's doing to you."

"My FATHER, never gave up hope, he never told my niece that I was dead!" Lacey said, feeling her face flush with anger.

"What was I supposed to think Lacey? What was I supposed to do? You were gone! The police told us the odds…"

"Oh yes, poor Mary, that self appointed cross you bear is just getting enormous." Gemma sniped, unable to hold her tongue any longer.

"You are the reason my family left me. You and your honeyed words, your manipulative mind. You couldn't stand the thought of Clay losing some of his brothers, and you ripped them away from me!" Mary raged, jumping out of her seat.

"Sweetie, your family left you because you gave them an ultimatum. They left because it was your way or the highway, and the call of the road was stronger than you." Gemma hissed.

Lacey watched the two women tearing open old wounds before finally having enough. "That's enough! This isn't about either of you! This is about me! This is about me finding out why my own Mother, who I thought about every single day, doesn't want me around!" Lacey took a breath before looking Mary in the eyes. "How long was it before you just, gave up… a year? A month? A week? Couple of days?" Lacey demanded to know.

"I still thought about you, but I needed to make peace, I needed a way to go on living!" Mary insisted.

"Well I'm so sorry I messed up your peace." Lacey hissed, venom dripping from her words.

"Please baby, I still want you, I still need you. Just come stay with me, you can make a new life here." Mary pleaded.

"I already have new life. A damn good one, with my Dad and my brother and my family. In Charming." Lacey told her.

"I'd rather you be dead than be in that life!" Mary yelled, finally snapping. "I'd rather you be dead than turn into another Gemma!"

"I could only hope to be as strong of a woman as Gemma is." Lacey told her mother in a low voice. "You know what, you've got your wish, as far as your concerned, just keep thinking I'm dead, you seem happier that way." Lacey turned on her heel running out the door.

Gemma stood up, looking at Mary smugly. "I hope you're happy, you've stolen my entire family from me!" Mary wailed, tears falling down her face.

"No sweetheart, you drove them away. I hope you're happy that when you're on your deathbed, you'll be alone, just like you wanted, and when I'm on mine, I'll be surrounded by my family." Gemma told the woman coldly, before walking out.

Lacey was still running , not sure of where she was, or how she got there, but knowing she wanted to be as far away from her mother as possible. She finally stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Scott, walking a dog with a little boy. Her vision started blurring, and her fingers started tingling as she got a tight feeling in her chest, and started having trouble breathing, taking big gulping breaths, but feeling like she wasn't getting any air. She sat on the concrete when the man turned around, and wasn't Scott at all, just a man walking his dog gin his neighborhood, shooting a confused look at the girl. Lacey did her best to calm herself down taking slower breaths, telling herself over and over it wasn't him.

Just as she felt somewhat normal again, Gemma pulled her car up. "If you're looking for Charming you're going the wrong way." She told Lacey through the window before narrowing her eyes. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah." Lacey said, pulling herself up.

"Are you sure? You're pale… and sweaty." Gemma told her, wrinkling her nose.

"I'm just upset." Lacey lied.

"Hmm." Gemma said, dropping the issue… for now. "Come on baby, let's go home.


End file.
